'Big Brother's Paul Abrahamian wins Power of Veto as houseguests get into explosive fights

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 08/03/2017

Big Brother's current Head of Household, Paul Abrahamian, won the Power of Veto competition during Wednesday night's Season 19 broadcast on CBS.

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The Big Brother broadcast began on Day 38 after Paul, as HoH, had nominated Jessica Graf and Cody Nickson for eviction despite having some knowledge of their "Halting Hex" temptation.

Cody called the house out, saying everyone knew about Paul's plan for the Nomination Ceremony, especially Matt Clines. Paul thought Jessica was bluffing about her advantage in the game, and so did Jason Dent. Jason felt safe on the chopping block knowing Jessica and Cody were much bigger threats than himself.

Paul then asked to speak with Jessica and Cody privately. He explained that nine people in the house told him what to do and the couple was nominated because everyone wanted the details of Jessica's Hex temptation exposed. Cody didn't buy Paul's explanation for a second, and their conversation quickly became heated.

Tension escalated when Paul told Jessica to lower her voice, because Cody rushed to Jessica's defense and began swearing at Paul and getting all up in his face.

Paul called Cody a child, and Cody said Paul is "just a character" on a TV show looking for the spotlight. Jessica was upset that Cody took it that far because it almost looked like he was going to get into a fist fight with Paul.

Jessica reminded Cody it's a game and he shouldn't take things so personally, especially since they needed to gain trust and friendship in the house in order to stick around. Cody told his girlfriend that he's playing Big Brotherwith his heart and soul, but Jessica yelled at him about not wanting to be a total outsider again.

Cody's behavior in the house made Jessica question whether she'd have to deal with a hothead in the real world, someone who attempts to pick fights with others all the time. Jessica stormed out of a room, venting how Cody loved testing her, and then Cody shook his head and said, "That's why I'm single."

Josh Martinez and Mark Jansen then got into an explosive fight. Mark wanted Josh to lay off Cody, and then Josh put Mark on blast. Josh called him "a joke" and a "big, fat f-cking bully."

Josh kept going, yelling that Mark has a terrible personality. Once Josh grabbed two pans to bang together to annoy Mark further, Mark approached him with anger until a producer demanded they walk to opposite sides of the house.

Afterward, Mark and Cody commiserated about how they probably just lost their girlfriends, because Mark's relationship with Elena Davies had also fallen apart.

Cody was pissed because he said had Paul never entered the game, they'd be running the show. Since Cody wasn't even on good terms with Jessica, he pondered leaving the game since he has no shot to win the $500,000 awarded by a jury of his fellow houseguests.

Paul then apologized to Jessica for what had transpired with the nominations. Jessica bragged that she was going to use "The Halting Hex" to take everyone off the block, meaning this week would have no evictee and it'd be a wash.

Paul insisted he didn't nominate Cody and herself to send them home. Paul explained that he wanted to learn the details of her temptation and then he was ready and willing to nominate two other people for eviction.

Paul tried to convince Jessica that Cody is terrible for her game and the only reason her name gets tossed around is because of him.

Paul shared with his alliance afterwards how he "planted the seed" in Jessica's mind about not using the Hex and getting rid of Cody to better her own situation in the house. Paul proudly referred to himself as "the showmance killer."

Christmas Abbott and Elena were on the same page as Paul, so both girls attempted to talk Jessica into not using the Hex so they could send Cody out the door. Christmas told Jessica that she'd be "way under" everyone's radar as long as Cody wasn't in the house, and everyone would want her out if she chooses to keep Cody around.

Jessica, however, was trying to beg for trust from people in the house who constantly betrayed her. She thought Cody was the only loyal person whom she could really rely on.

In the meantime, Cody and Jessica were still at odds and Cody appeared pretty torn up about the dynamic. Cody told Jessica while choking back tears that he's afraid he won't be able to make her happy and that's all he wants for her.

Cody said he may not be able to balance her out in the real world in the way she hopes. Jessica didn't think Cody was a quitter, but he was proving otherwise.

Jessica seemed furious that Cody was giving up on what they had, but Cody insisted he was just trying to do the right thing with her best interests in mind.

Jessica told Cody that he must learn to control his temper or their romance will never work out. Cody told Jessica that he'd gladly hop on a grenade for her and go home, but Jessica didn't want to have a hand in her boyfriend's ouster.

The night before the Power of Veto competition, "BB Storm Watch" updates were given throughout the night as the houseguests were trying to sleep. The objective was to memorize storm names and the details of those storms. Each storm was named after a previously-evicted houseguest, like Cameron or Dominique.

It then became time to pick players for the Power of Veto competition. In addition to Paul as HoH and the three nominees -- Jessica, Cody and Jason -- Paul was allowed to pick someone to play, and he selected Kevin Schlehuber. Raven was also picked to play at random.

For the Power of Veto competition dubbed "Under the Weather," each houseguest had to read a weather report off a teleprompter and insert the correct storm names into the blanks. Each time a houseguest said the correct name, he or she would receive one point. The player to receive the most points would win the veto.

Paul ended up winning the veto with a total of 22 points. Kevin and Raven tied for second place with 16 points.

Afterward, Paul told Jessica that he wasn't trying to persuade her not to use the Hex -- he just wanted to "lay down some facts."

Paul revealed that Cody had talked behind her back before. In the first few weeks of the competition, Paul said Cody talked to Matt about taking out Jessica and Raven. Cody had said Matt and himself just couldn't be responsible for their eliminations.

Paul's warning made Jessica question if she should keep Cody safe and continue working with him.

Jessica therefore made a deal with Paul. She said that if she did not use the Hex and the house sent Cody packing, she didn't want to be nominated for eviction for two weeks, not even as a pawn on the chopping block. Jessica also demanded Alex be taken out next by the upcoming Head of Household.

Paul told Jessica he could make her first request happen but the second one would be more difficult since they don't even know who the next HoH is going to be. Jessica said she wanted both jobs done or she'd use the Hex, meaning she was not willing to negotiate.

As a result, Paul determined he'd tell Jessica exactly what she wanted to hear so that she would not use "The Halting Hex." However, it was clear Paul has no intention of honoring their deal.

"I guess Cody might be going home on Thursday," Jessica told the cameras.